A well-known Cambridge hotel developer and at least two casino gaming companies are maneuvering to acquire the 14-acre Wyman-Gordon property near downtown for development as a slot machine parlor.

The slots emporium would be the only one in the state and would need to be approved by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. The state is seeking nonrefundable $400,000 fees for applications for one slots parlor and three full-scale casinos by Jan. 15.

Richard L. Friedman, president and chief operating officer of Cambridge-based Carpenter &Company Inc., told the Telegram & Gazette yesterday that he is working on a $150 million plan for a boutique hotel and other uses near the downtown CitySquare development.

Mr. Friedman, a noted Democratic fundraiser and friend of former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama, said he has long been interested in building a hotel in the city, but there has not been enough market demand until recently. He said the time is right now, with new buildings rising and other redevelopment projects where the old Galleria and Worcester Common Outlets once stood on the edge of the downtown Common.

“For 10 or 15 years, we've been talking to city officials about a significant project in Worcester, and we do have an interest in mixed-use projects in Worcester,” he said. “Worcester deserves a much higher quality level of development than in the past.”

A source close to the casino industry and familiar with the Worcester negotiations confirmed that the location Mr. Friedman is targeting is the Wyman-Gordon Co. property at 105 Madison St. The source also confirmed that a slot parlor is among the plans Mr. Friedman is considering for the site.

Any gaming facility in the city would need to be approved by a majority of voters in the ward in which the operation is proposed, unless the City Council votes to make the referendum city-wide. Such a ballot question would likely trigger vigorous political and marketing campaigns — pro and con — on the often controversial question of gaming.

In 2007, city voters approved a nonbinding referendum to allow a casino in Worcester.

Also, city officials would probably only support a plan that would be part of downtown redevelopment and not be a self-contained box.

“A few gaming entities have expressed interest in Worcester, but it has been very preliminary at best. I am a skeptic that gaming is an economic win for the city, but I am always open-minded to any proposal that is positive for us,” said City Manager Michael V. O'Brien. “It would have to integrate with our economic development agenda and would have to be an enhancement to our existing restaurant, theaters, cultural and entertainment venues.

“A vast, big-box expanse of slot machines, aka one-arm bandits, with easy-on and easy-off the highway access … is more than likely dead on arrival,” the city manager added. Most of the metal parts factory that stood at the Wyman-Gordon site for more than a century was torn down in 2001. Wyman-Gordon, which is owned by the Portland, Ore., conglomerate Precision Castparts Corp., stopped actively marketing the land in 2009 because of the depressed economy. The lot has remained largely empty since then and is regarded as something of an eyesore in the center of the city.

The chief spokesman for the Oregon company did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Mr. Friedman, former chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission under former President Clinton and a member of President Obama's Export Council, developed the upscale Liberty Hotel in Boston and Charles Hotel in Cambridge, the St. Regis San Francisco, Brookline Marriott Courtyard, and Hyatt hotels in Cambridge and Princeton, N.J.

He would appear to have the edge over other developers — one of whom was identified by Mr. Friedman as Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas — because of his ties to Worcester.

Mr. Friedman was one of the three development experts whom Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray had asked to run a 2003 forum, when Mr. Murray was Worcester mayor, to discuss the future of the then-faltering former mall.

With the state Gaming Commission's deadline coming up soon, speculation about the location of the state's only slots parlor has, up to now, centered around the Plainridge horse track in Plainville and the former Raynham dog track.

However, the sources said Plainridge and Raynham could likely be supplanted by Worcester as a favored location because the two facilities are too close to the Boston area, where two full-scale casinos are thought to be on the fast track.

According to that reasoning, Worcester is well-placed to snare prospective Boston area and northern New England slots customers who otherwise would keep going toward the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casino and slots complexes in Connecticut.

In August, a group of investors from outside Worcester were said to be considering building up to 350 upscale apartments and a hotel in CitySquare, according to Mr. O'Brien. He did not name the investors at that time or where they are based, but called their interest in Worcester a positive sign.

CitySquare is a part of downtown Worcester that contains office buildings and formerly housed the Worcester Common Outlets mall. A division of the Hanover Insurance Group Inc. bought about half of the CitySquare property from Berkeley Investments in 2010. Hanover's investment helped jump-start the long-stalled redevelopment of the property.

Over the past two years, workers have demolished large portions of the mall and a sprawling parking garage and have begun constructing two buildings: a new office for disability insurer Unum Group and a new cancer treatment center for St. Vincent Hospital. Boston-based Leggat McCall Properties is managing the project.

The city manager said the apartments would be rented at market rate or above. The hotel would include guest rooms, meeting space and ballrooms, he said. A deal is dependent on economic conditions, Mr. O'Brien said.

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